US crude stocks fall, gasoline and distillate inventories rise, EIA says

U.S. crude stocks fell while gasoline and distillate inventories rose last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Crude inventories fell by 2.3 million barrels to 423.8 million barrels in the week ended January 23, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.8 million-barrel rise.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub USOICC=ECI fell by 278,000 barrels in the week, the EIA said.

Refinery crude runs USOICR=ECI fell by 395,000 barrels per day, the EIA said, while utilization rates USOIRU=ECI fell by 2.4 percentage points in the week to 90.9%.

U.S. gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI rose by 0.2 million barrels in the week to 257.2 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1 million-barrel build.​

Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 0.3 million barrels in the week to 132.9 million barrels, versus expectations for a 0.6 million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.

Net U.S. crude imports USOICI=ECI fell by 1.71 million barrels per day, EIA said.